Pre-Theater Dinner in NYC: When to Eat, When to Leave and the Walk to Every Broadway Theater

Plenty of advice still assumes an 8pm curtain. In Playbill's schedule for the last week of October 2026, most Tuesday to Friday evening shows started at 7pm, and 8pm was the usual start only on Saturday. Walking times below are from our door at 605 W 48th Street, at an easy pace. We checked everything in November 2026, but your ticket always wins.

What time do Broadway shows start?

The pattern across 33 shows in Playbill's weekly schedule, October 26 to November 1, 2026:

How early should you get to the theater?

Most theaters open their doors 30 to 45 minutes before curtain, and some ask you to arrive earlier to clear security. At ATG houses such as the St. James and the Walter Kerr, it's about 40 to 45 minutes, with a metal detector for everyone. The Hudson asks for 50. We plan on being at the door 30 minutes before curtain.

Don't cut it close. Shubert, which owns 17 of the 41 theaters, seats latecomers “at the discretion of management,” and the FAQ for the long-running musical at the Gershwin warns that late orchestra patrons may wait in the lobby until about 20 minutes after it begins.

Travel light, too. Several houses send large bags to coat check, the Lyric doesn't allow large luggage inside and Studio 54 has no coat check. Shubert houses don't allow outside food or drink, so leave the leftovers.

How do you work back from your curtain?

1. Take the curtain time from your ticket. It may be earlier than you expect.
2. Take off 30 minutes. That's when you're at the theater door (50 for the Hudson).
3. Take off the walk. That's when you leave the table.
4. Take off about 75 minutes. That's when you sit down. Ask for the check when the food lands.

Say you have 7pm tickets at the Imperial, about 15 minutes away: door by 6:30pm, leave by 6:15pm, sit down at 5pm, our first table of the night. The pre-theater dinner planner does this for your theater, day and curtain.

How long is the walk to each Broadway theater?

There are 41 Broadway theaters. Forty are in the Theater District, about 12 to 21 minutes from our door; the Vivian Beaumont is at Lincoln Center.

The Longacre, Walter Kerr and James Earl Jones are on our own street, one straight line east. All of them are on our Broadway map. Old names still turn up: the James Earl Jones was the Cort, the Lena Horne was the Brooks Atkinson, and the Todd Haimes was the American Airlines.

What time should you book dinner?

• Tuesday. Taco Tuesday is unlimited tacos for $25 per person for 90 minutes. A 7pm curtain gives you 65 to 75 of those.
• Brunch. Bottomless brunch also runs 90 minutes. It fits a 3pm matinee if you sit down by 12:30pm, but not a 2pm one.
• Sunday at 6:30pm. A 5pm table leaves only about 35 to 45 minutes.
• Earlier matinees. A 1pm Sunday or a weekday matinee is too early for us, so come up after.

Can you eat after the show instead?

After a matinee, yes. The musical at the Gershwin runs 2 hours and 45 minutes with its intermission, so a 2pm show ends around 4:45pm, and the walk puts you here as dinner starts at 5pm.

After a night show, watch the clock: our last dinner reservation is 10pm Tuesday to Saturday and 9pm on Sunday. A 7pm show of about two and a half hours is out around 9:30pm, which leaves time for the walk. An 8pm show probably won't make it, so eat first.

Should you walk, take the bus or get a taxi?

• Walk. East on W 48th St to Eighth Avenue takes about 11 minutes. Every Theater District house is within seven blocks north or south of there, and up to about a third of a mile east.
• M50 bus. It runs east on W 50th St from 12th Avenue and W 48th St, about 2 minutes from us. It helps most for theaters around W 50th to 54th St; farther south, walking is about as fast. The fare is $3 (checked November 2026), and some stops have had temporary closures, so check MTA Bus Time.
• Subway. The C/E at 50th St and Eighth Avenue is about 12 minutes on foot, and by then you're already in the Theater District.
• Taxi. By the TLC's fare rules (checked November 2026), about a mile in moving traffic is about $11.25 before tip, plus $2.50 on weekdays from 4 to 8pm. Slow traffic adds 70¢ a minute, so we can't promise it beats walking.

Where do TKTS and Restaurant Row fit in?

TKTS at Broadway and W 47th St, about 15 minutes from us, sells same-day tickets at up to 50% off, including an $8 per ticket service charge. It closes at 8pm and opens at 3pm on Monday, Tuesday and Friday, 11am on other days (checked November 2026; Thanksgiving week differs). Buy first, then book dinner around your curtain.

Restaurant Row is West 46th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenue, “an ideal destination for the pre- and post-theater crowd,” says the Times Square Alliance. From the middle of that block, the houses on West 44th to 48th Street are about 3 to 10 minutes away. From us they're 12 to 21, so you'll leave about 10 minutes earlier. In return you get the roof, the skyline and a live DJ at dinner.

What about Off-Broadway?

Some of our closest theaters aren't on Broadway. MCC Theater and Ensemble Studio Theatre, on W 52nd St, are about 6 to 7 minutes away, New World Stages on W 50th St about 11, and Signature Theatre, Playwrights Horizons and Theatre Row on W 42nd St about 11 to 13.

Dinner on a rooftop before the curtain

We're Cantina Rooftop, at 605 W 48th St, between 11th and 12th Avenue: a Mexican restaurant and bar on the roof, with a live DJ every night we're open. Dinner starts at 5pm, Tuesday to Sunday. Brunch is Saturday and Sunday from 12 to 4pm, with the last reservation at 3:30pm. We're closed on Mondays. The glass roof opens in good weather; when it's cold it stays closed and heated. Tables for 2 to 8 book online.